


My first everything

by Jitter, SiriuslySmart



Series: My First Everything [2]
Category: The Dresden Files - All Media Types, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Diabetes, F/M, FWP, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Non descriptive sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3155105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jitter/pseuds/Jitter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriuslySmart/pseuds/SiriuslySmart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A Chicago Loop" series can be taken as prequel although we were both determined not to ship them and Harry is supposedly with Murphy in those stories, muses were quite insistent on being paired so ACL is a recommended read</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

It had been a while since he had met with Elaine again after all those years and he had caught himself thinking about her more often than not. The memory of her, incredulously giggling over how much his life _sucked_ , the smell of her hair, the annoyed look on her face when he paid the tab at MacAnally’s…

At first he appointed it to nostalgia. She had once been his lover, his foster sister, his best friend in a time when he had noone else. He had been a bit disappointed when she had announced she had to go when he last met her after their second beer, and when she failed to contact him in the two months that followed he had assumed that she just wasn’t interested in hanging out anymore. It wouldn’t have been weird either. They were now both in their forties, their time together being a lifetime ago, and Harry was more or less involved with a bunch of sadistic fae, the exact opposite team of the one Elaine had once played ball with.

So when she called him at Thomas’s  number and asked to meet again, he found himself more excited than he ought to be. Having spent the previous day with Maggie he was already in Chicago, so he caught the rail, making sure to sit at the very last car and arrived at their meeting point with ten minutes to spare to wait for her.

Elaine was running late. It seemed a common theme in her life, these days; one would think that magical pathways between cities would make it easier to actually arrive there on time, but this was not anywhere near the case.

She’d visited Lena’s grave that morning, like she did every time she was in the area, and spent much more time there than she’d intended. And then she’d went back to her rental place to change - another mistake, it would turn out later - and Patricia had woken up and demanded attention. So Elaine had to play with the young girl for another hour before she would agree to be dropped off at the Jones’, and  _then_ she found out what an error she had made in wearing one of her nicest remaining dresses while walking the Way to Chicago.

All things considered, it was remarkable that she arrived to their meeting spot only half an hour later than planned, with an only slightly ruined outfit and only a trace of fried spider goo on one shoe.

An odd fluttering went through Elaine’s stomach as she oriented herself , getting her bearings before heading off in the right direction. It had been three months since her last visit to Chicago; life had gotten in the way since then - first the Riebald case, then those two kids in Delaware, and then Patricia - and the idea of meeting with Harry again had been pushed to the back of her mind.

But when it had gotten quieter, the idea had gotten louder, and more insistent, and much more difficult to push away, until eventually she’d given up and called the number. She remembered that conversation vividly:

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey, I’m—"_

_"Elaine, right?"_

_"What? I mean, yes, I’m—"_

_"Harry! You owe me a pizza!"_

Thomas had been the intermediary for the whole arrangement - Elaine still wasn’t quite sure how he’d known who she was - and now … well, now, she thought, turning the corner, here she was.

 

Harry had been to the corner and bought a can of coke, which he had emptied about thirty minutes ago and cursed himself for not bringing along one of his paperbacks to read. He usually always carried a book when he caught the rail but this time had been one of the few he had forgotten. Typical.

As the time passed he had convinced himself she wasn’t coming and decided to give it another fifteen minutes before leaving. After all he _had_ stood her up the last time they 'd met and he thought it only fair to just not up and leave at the first sign of tardiness.

He wasn’t exactly easy to miss, all six foot nine of him, sitting awkwardly on a bench as though he was preparing to leave, Which would make sense, given how late she was. Forty-five minutes, now.

She hurried over, ignoring the brisk autumn winds and the fourth mistake (not bringing a coat) becoming increasingly apparently. She sat down next to him, deciding on one of their traditional quips.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, smiling.

 

When she sat next to him his face broke in the biggest smile without him intending to and he just looked at her, grinning like a goofy idiot.

"It was, actually." he said stretching his long legs as he grinned at her, "But then my date decided to not come so I guess you can sit if you like."

"Your date sounds like a flake. Hang out with me today instead," Elaine replied casually, ignoring the little fluttering in her stomach at his word choice. What was she, fifteen? It wasn’t like she was …

_Oh, shut up, Elaine._

She looked at him properly now. He looked healthier than the last time she’d seen him. Less tired. She was surprised how much that pleased her. His dark hair was a little longer, but not a mess, and there was an air of … _happiness_ around him that hadn’t quite been present last time.

She was almost surprised how much that pleased her. Without thinking, she slid her hand into his, quite content to sit for a few more minutes.

“Have you seen her recently?” she asked, referring to Maggie, wondering if the kid had anything to do with his brighter mood.

"Indeed I did!" he said, the buzz he felt at his fingers as she took his hand having nothing to do with the magic in her aura, "But it is more than that too, I have placed an offer on a house close to her foster family and there is a very good chance that I will get it." he smiled, trying to contain his excitement. "Money don’t give you happiness but you can very well buy your way through to it."

This had been very important to him, Maggie loved her foster family way too much for Harry to be comfortable to take her away completely from them and apart from that he knew that by working for Mab he’d often had to be away for extended periods of time. But living just across the street…

"Harry, that’s fantastic!" Elaine exclaimed, with more enthusiasm than she’d expected. Each bit of it was genuine though. It was heard to imagine, really; Harry in a house, with a daughter. With a family.

Or was it?

After all, it’s not as if it was the first time she’d pictured the scene. Harry, playing with their child, while Elaine…

She shook her head as though to clear it. God, what was the  _matter_ with her today? Had the Way decided to replace her brain with her sixteen year old self? Was that a thing?

He looked at the state of her dress, the spider stir-fry already turning into ectoplasmic goo and raised an eyebrow, “What happened to you?”

As he appraised her outfit, she felt her cheeks turn oddly pink. “They, uh, said they could smell the human on me,” she admitted. “And then I fried one of the spiders and the rest said they could smell the Summer on me. They … took exception to that. So I took exception to them. And this was my favourite dress, too.”

"Winter fae attacked you?" Harry’s fists clenched, "I have requested express permission from Queen Mab for you. She gave it. Heads will roll." he growled.

Elaine placed a hand on his arm. “Harry,” she said, “There aren’t any heads left to roll. You don’t have to call in your royal credentials on my account.” She grinned, to show she was fine, and then shivered as the wind blew more strongly.

"Are you alright? We could leave if you like, I have some spare clothes at Thomas’s house. they would be too big for you but you won’t be cold." he offered.

She was going to deny his offer, but developing pneumonia would be counter-productive at this point, and so she nodded. “Until we get there…not to sound cliché, but can I borrow your coat? You have more layers than me.”

Harry had already began removing his duster before she asked, "Well this is awkward, you blocked my chauvinist pig action with your cliché damsel in distress request." He draped the coat over her shoulders still grinning, "The cold isn’t bad anymore, I can’t really feel it that much to be honest."

He led her to the rail station and made a point to pay for her fare. Walking with the huge heavy duster was a little difficult, but Elaine was -  _just_ \- tall enough to pull it off. Mostly.

Not really.

It got tangled around her feet a lot, making it difficult to argue when Harry was paying for her ticket, and soon they were at the lobby of Thomas’s building.

"Hey there Jeeves." Harry said to the concierge which drew a disapproving pursing of the lips from the other man.

"Mr. Dresden." he said through gritted teeth as Harry led Elaine to the staircase.

"It’s on the fifth floor, I don’t wanna risk breaking the elevator again." he apologised.

She snorted at “Jeeves,” and handed back the duster as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “Jeeves? Are you this rude to your boss?” she asked, then paused. “Don’t answer that. I don’t think I could handle the answer.”

As they started up the stairs, she said, “Is Thomas home?”, and was surprised a little irritated to feel her whole body tense, waiting for the response.

"Shouldn’t be." Harry shrugged as he climbed up, "He said he might be around later but I think he’s off to meet with his sister for business."

"And to answer your other question, no, I don’t talk to Mab like that. Once I called her a bitch and she kind of re-arranged my whole cranium decor." he grinned at her, "Sometimes even I know how to shut up. We’re here."

"You do?" Elaine asked, arching an eyebrow perfectly. "Is this what maturity looks like on you? My, my. I kind of like it."

He led her down the hall to a white security door and deactivated some wards before he used his key on it. There was not much of a threshold but he made sure to invite her in anyway as he walked in calling, “Thomas?”

As they entered the apartment, Elaine looked around, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the outrageous …  _fancy_ … of it all. A side door opened, an a man who looked slightly younger than Harry came out, tousled curls dripping wet, wearing no shirt above his jeans.

"I’m here," the man said. His voice was beautiful, too, and it only took a few more seconds for Elaine to realise she was staring at Thomas. And staring. And  _staring._ "But not for long. I’ve got to…"

His eyes fell on Elaine, and his perfect mouth turned up in a grin. “Oh,” he said. “You want me to leave now?”

Elaine gazed at him some more, then shook her head, clearing it. “Don’t leave on my account,” she said, and Thomas shot her another grin. Elaine felt her face warm. She looked away.

Thomas turned away from her to look at Harry, and there was a grin playing on his face which Elaine could not quite place. “Sorry, Ms. Mallory,” he said politely, not looking at her. “I’m sure Harry can keep you entertained, though. He’s  _very_ good at what he does.”

Elaine’s face went warmer. “…oh?”

Thomas pulled on the shirt that he was holding in his hands, and took a few steps closer to Harry. As Elaine watched, he leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Take care of our guest, love,” he said fondly, and Elaine couldn’t help but shiver at the suggestion in his tone.

Before Harry could audibly respond, or Elaine could form a coherent thought, Thomas had dashed out of the door, leaving the two alone.

"Aaaand that’s Thomas." Harry said when the door closed and he was gone. "He’s White Court. He’s a little shit and likes to confuse my friends."

For the first time in over twenty years, Elaine could not meet Harry’s eyes. “I, uh,” she said finally. “Can I take a shower?”

He seemed really amused at her reaction to Thomas, “Sure take a shower if you like, nothing like Nevernever goo to ruin ones mood.”

He showed her the way to the bathroom and gave her a pair of towels, “We could still go catch a movie after if you want to, or order pizza here. I’m sure Thomas won’t mind.” he nodded and considered his duster for a while, remembering how comically long it had been on Elaine. “Might as well steal one of his pair of jeans to give you since he’s much closer to your height than I am.”

"Pizza here sounds good," Elaine replied, accepting the towels. "I’ve had enough excitement for one day."

She showered quickly, stepping out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her body to find some of Thomas’ clothes piled in front of the door. She found herself blushing  _again_ as she slipped into his jeans and shirt, although at least this time she knew  _why_ he was having that effect. Stupid vampires.

When she entered the sitting room, Harry was lounging on the sofa, apparently having already ordered the pizza. He had a book in one hand, though Elaine didn’t think he looked like he was paying much attention to it.

She sat next to him. “Harry,” she said, after a silence. “You know, uh. You know how I told you about Lena? Well, you know you can tell me anything, right?”

Wait, _Lena_ …? Oh. Oh Hell’s Bells.

"Elaine I—" he started but then an utterly mischievous idea settled into his mind and he had to restrain himself from smirking, "You know Elaine, I am so glad you said that because you know I was worried about how you might have reacted."

He put the book down and looked at her,

"The truth is we wanted you for a threesome."

Elaine stared at him, opening her mouth a few times although words didn’t come out. For a … what? That was … that was …

…that was actually not the worst idea she’d ever heard, part of her had to admit. Given the physique she’d seen on the vampire, and what she’d seen when Harry had taken off his coat, it was clear the two men were … physical, and neither was unattractive, and …

She realised what she was thinking after about five seconds of solid silence and mentally slapped herself.  _Snap out of it, Elaine._

"Harry, I…" she started, then stopped. Being propositioned for a threesome … well, that wasn’t something particularly new to her, she had to admit. But by  _Harry?_

She jumped to her feet, suddenly outraged - although too busy reeling from the shock to be truly angry. She pointed a finger dramatically at him. “You … you are _fucking_ with me aren’t you? Harry, you absolute shit!”

She turned away, folding her arms, mostly because she didn’t want him to see that she was grinning despite herself. “Do you often use your pretty White Court boyfriend to mess with people like this?”

Harry couldn’t help it he started giggling at the[ stages her face went through](http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/disgusted/grand/disgusted_gif.gif) as she processed what he had told her. He full on burst out laughing when she pointed a finger at him.

"He’s not—" he tried to breathe between hysteric laughter, "Hell’s Bells he’s not my boyfriend, Elaine." There were actual tears running down his face from laughing so hard and he knew he was in for some major bitch-slapping after pulling such a prank on her but he found himself hunching over his knees cackling like he hadn’t in a long while. "He’s my brother." he explained, "He lets me stay here sometimes so I don’t have to haul my ass over the island everyday."

"Stop laughing!" she demanded, spinning back round to face him. "I don’t _care_ if he’s your boyfriend or your partner or whatever word you—”  Then she heard his explanation and stopped stock still. “I…” she started, and closed her mouth. “You…”

She glared at him. “Oh, so, what, my sexuality is a  _joke_ for you now?!” she demanded. No part of her was  _actually_ angry about this, but the excess rage had to go  _somewhere._ "Fun of your se— No, shit Elaine, I’d never do that." he protested. He didn’t like being considered a bigot. He just wanted to make an innocent joke. Trust Harry Dresden to have his joke bite him back on the ass. He pressed his lips tightly together. "I am sorry, I thought it would be funny." he apologized.

“And since when do you have a  _brother?_ What the  _fuck_ is wrong with you?” She flopped down on the sofa next to him. “Stop  _laughing,”_  she insisted again, biting her own lip, not ready to let go of the irritation and laugh with him. The asshole.

"We’re not really talking about it." he started explaining, "His family isn’t exactly fond of him as he is not a legitimate son and after what happened with Maggie… No. We can’t risk telling people about us being family." He settled better into the sofa and stretched his legs as she sat in grumpy silence for a few moments longer, then sighed, and let the smile out. “Okay,” she admitted. “It  _was_ pretty funny.”

"So … your mom?" she asked, not really needing the answer. Wow. She’d need to get that full story some time. It sounded worth the telling.

She watched as he relaxed, an then did the same, leaning a little into his side without noticing, in a long-distant but so familiar gesture.

"My mom." he nodded not willing to discuss how his mom had boinked Lord Raith for years.

Cringe.

Barf.

And then Elaine had leaned in on him and he found himself pressing closer without realizing.

“I was about to tell you all that but you just assumed we’re gay lovers.” he smirked.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she respond, irked again by his smirk. “I should have known better than to assume you could pull  _that_ off.

"Hey!" he protested. "I could have had a gay boyfriend if I was into that. Have you not seen how dashing I am?" he started laughing again

"You can have your dashing moments," Elaine admitted, twisting so that she was looking up at him, then stopping as she met his eyes.

“Does this mean he’s not gay? Should I leave him my contact details? I have been single for  _far_ too long.”

Although she had - obviously, totally, 100%, okay, maybe more like 50% - been joking, she felt a slight shift in the atmosphere at her last words which she couldn’t quite explain. She shrugged it off. It was’t like she’d said anything wrong.

"Nah, I’m pretty sure he’s not even bisexual, unless he needs to be. Although he’s taken, he has a girlfriend, I’m sorry to disappoint."

His stomach had knotted over -stupid stomach- and despite him laughing, her saying how long she had been single had made him take a mental stop.

He noticed how close he held her, how relaxed his breath had become around her.

Hell’s Bells it had been a long time for him too. If he didn’t count the Stone Table it had been more than six years.

"Me too." he croaked, "I’ve been alone for far too long."

Yes, the atmosphere was definitely changing, and into something that was almost as recognisable as it was unexpected. It was quiet, everything was quiet, except the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. Every individual cell in her body seemed eager to make her aware that it existed at that moment, especially the bare part of her arm which was being lightly touched by one of Harry’s hands.

"Well, you’re not alone right now," she said. She hesitantly reached up, resting a hand on his cheek. "And neither am I," she added, her voice coming out much more quietly.

And then she turned her body some more, without thinking, without letting herself hesitate, and gently kissed his mouth.

To be perfectly honest he had wanted to kiss her since he first saw her in Mac’s again after all these years, but he had appointed that to nostalgia and never gave it a second thought.

Until he had started missing her.

He had caught himself thinking about her so often that it had actually started to irritate him that she hadn’t called for two months. He would return to Thomas’s apartment and ask if he had any calls and Thomas would say noone called and Harry would sulk for hours.

He had never enjoyed losing a bet more than the day she had finally called him.

And now she was here and she was kissing him and Harry was kissing her back, his hands moving to cup her face and pull her closer, sinking deep in the familiarity of her lips, her smell - that smell that was _hers_ despite Thomas’s fancy shampoo - her heart beating against his own…

He felt like he had been put in a time capsule and suddenly he was sixteen again. His hands tangled in her hair and he pulled her closer, kissing her deeper, with a need that he hadn’t realised was there.

When they broke the kiss for breath, he stroke her cheek with his thumb.

"Hi." he said lamely with a goofy smile.

"Hey," Elaine replied, a little breathlessly, wondering if she was blushing. Again. "That was …  I mean I didn’t … I mean … hi."

She hadn’t intended to kiss him, not at all. That was a part of her life that was over, compartmentalised in the same box as Aurora, the one that she didn’t touch, the one where the new things happened, where everything was fresh and exciting and new and scary and beautiful. The one where touches were hesitant and kisses were messy and hands were soft and loving and uncertain.

"You got better at that," she said softly. "Guess some practice did you good."

"I’ve had a few training sessions." he said equally softly, pressing a kiss on her hair, "But you had set a pretty good foundation in terms of practice." He smiled at her. He consciously would never have opened that can on his own. He had missed her and the headspace he was in when around her was too easy to slip in to, too familiar, too… safe.

Elaine had been his life raft. Between the beatings from Justin - always justified as disciplinary - and the surety that they were the only ones in the world that could do what they did, she had become something to cling to, to help him float. And he had loved her.

"I loved you. When we were kids." he said simply, hoping his words wouldn’t scare her away, "I don’t think I ever really stopped."

"God, Harry, we were kids," Elaine replied, absently running a hand down his arm. "In our situation … I didn’t just love you. You were my world. My mom died, and then Justin came, and I began to forget, you know? I forgot what it felt like to be happy. And then that weird little boy in the room down the hall started talking to me, and sharing his memories, and working with me, and he became … my first kiss, my first love, my first … _everything.”_

She blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes while she was talking, and stared at him. Looked right into his eyes. “I can’t do this with anyone else,” she said, not wanting to break the eye contact, something she hadn’t had in her life for what felt like forever. “I don’t … I can’t trust anyone else enough to let them see …”

She stopped, and shifted her body again, draping her arms around his neck, pressing herself as close to him as possible, needing that warmth, that contact. God, it had been a long time since she’d felt this way … and it felt right. She looked back at him, her gaze steady. “We need to talk,” she said. “We need to be adults and talk and make everything make sense. But right now, more than that, I need you to kiss me again.”

He sat up a bit when she slithered up his chest and wrapped his arms around her pressing her closer. Her hair was still damp from her shower and had left a wet patch on the neck of her shirt, as he realised when he ran his hands over her back. “You were my world as well.” He hugged her tight.

"There will be talking," he promised, "Soon." He tore away his eyes from hers and focus on her lower lip for a moment before leaning in taking it between his teeth, before moving his hand to the back of her neck to pull her closer. He opened his mouth, his tongue seeking her own, not willing to let another moment go to waste.

Elaine let out a little gasp and leaned in to the kiss, pulling him closer, pushing herself closer, wanting, needing. He tasted … god, it was beautiful. His hand ran down her back, sending shivers up her spine, and she trailed her fingers down his side, stopping where his shirt ended. She slid her hand up, feeling the muscles there.

This felt so new and so strange. It had been a  _long_ time since she’d been with a man - and the hard muscle on his stomach, not to mention his strength and the technique in his caresses, made the word  _man_ as opposed to  _boy_ quite proper - but…

It was familiar, too. To feel him wanting her,  _needing_ her, touching her. To feel his lips on hers, his hands exploring her body.

The last time this had happened they’d been awkward kids, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t been beautiful. It was maybe the tenth time they’d been  _together,_ and he’d told her he loved her as she’d run her hand over his chest, like she was doing now, and he’d told her they’d be together forever, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, just as she was sitting now, and …

And two days later, he was gone.

Elaine jerked back, pulling away from the embrace, scooting back over to the far side of the sofa as though her life depended on it. The warmth was gone, replaced by a familiar cold sensation deep in her gut. The air felt tight and she found herself grabbing one of the dislodged sofa cushions to herself and staring over it at Harry.

"You thought it was me," she said, and her voice came out tiny and weak, the cold she felt sapping all the strength from it. "You thought I … that I’d … after _everything_ …”

Elaine suddenly felt very small, and the air felt very tight, and once again she was there, in the ashes of her home, the ashes of her foster father, the ashes of her love scattered all around her, and her alone.

She was breathing too fast. She knew that. She knew she had to stop, to calm down, to get herself together, but suddenly the world was the cushion in her arms and she clung to it for dear life, trying to remember how to breathe, trying to remember what she’d been doing only moments before. She could feel eyes on her in the present, but she ignored them, because all she could see right now was that Justin was dead and Harry was gone and Elaine was alone.

He was surprised at the sudden lack of warmth as she moved away from him. He tried to reach for her then heard her words, saw her posture and movements and realised she was having a panic attack.

Fuck those things, Harry was sick of them, his little girl had been having them more often than he’d like to admit and they were -like Elaine’s- linked back to him.

Hell’s Bells.

He moved closer, careful not to touch her and spoke.

"Count backwards slowly from 100." his voice was very soft, like a lull, "Count with me." he instructed and hoped that would be enough.

"Count, Elaine, 100…99…98…97.."

"I don’t _want_ to count!” she snapped, her voice loud and angry, hot tears on her face.”Stop … stop trying to make … don’t tell me … “

It was at that point that the detached part of her brain, the warm-but-logical part which she’d developed through intense meditation and learning from Summer, kicked in. She closed her eyes, shutting it out, shutting everything out, and methodically began to remember.

_My name is Elaine Lillian Mallory. I am a wizard. I am in Chicago. I am in Thomas Raith’s apartment. I am with Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. I am alive. I am safe. I am not alone._

She ran a finger down the faint scars on each arm, the remnants of the induced suicide attempt which hadn’t yet entirely faded. She couldn’t feel them anymore, but she knew they were there. A reminder of her mortality. Of her humanity.

_Justin is dead. I am alive._

She released the cushion. Her breathing was now back to normal.

_I kissed Harry. I meant to do it. That was okay. Nobody cares, except us._

Finally, she opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Harry’s concerned expression. She gave him a weak look, and wiped one hand down her face; brushing away the trail of tears.

"I’m sorry," she said weakly. She wasn’t entirely sure which part she was apologising for.

"Hey, look at me," he said placing a hand on her back and turning her face toward him with the other, "It’s okay, alright? I had them too, for a while. Maggie has them too." he whispered, bringing his forehead to rest against hers,

"There is nothing you need to apologise for, Elaine. If we’re going too fast, if you want me to stop touching you just tell me. I get it. Tell me what you need and I’ll do it for you."

"I …I don’t know if we should do this, Harry," Elaine said quietly, leaning into the support of his arms despite her words. "Just pick up again. I don’t know if I  _can.”_

She pulled back again, not to disentangle herself, but to look at his face. She let out a watery little laugh. “I mean, we didn’t exactly have the best break-up,” she said.

"I … I love being around you but … you were gone. You believed that I tried to … " She winced, shook her head. "I don’t blame you. I would have probably done the same - I mean, Justin tried to  _kill_ you; I don’t think you’d exactly have been …” She trailed off again. “What do you want?” she asked. A tiny question. A huge answer.

He ignored her accusations. About believing her a traitor. He was sixteen alone and scared and everyone after his father had tried to take advantage of him one way or the other. The old hobo who promised he would give him a blanket if Harry gave him his sandwich when he had ran away from the foster home, the creepy guy who had given him a ride after school and had tried to touch him. Everyone except Elaine and Justin… When the shit had hit the fan it had been only natural for his brain to just assume that Elaine probably just wanted something from him as well, making her betrayal all too easy to believe.

He reacted with a joke. Snark being his go-to drug of choice after all.

"Well _technically_ …” he said sitting on the floor by her feet and crossing his arms on his chest, “ _Technically_ we never broke up. So you just upped and left and _cheated_ on me with hippy fairies.” his tone was accusatory but there was a huge grin on his face the longer he spoke. “And then you went and had hot girl on girl sex while you were still not broken up with your boyfriend of — let me count — twenty years.”

He thought for a second, “Remember in 1987 when we snuck out and hitch-hiked five hours to Rosemont to go to the Cure concert? Remember how we hexed the security guard’s radio and snuck in there?” he urged her memory, “Do you remember what I did for you when we finally found a place away from machinery and you were lying in my arms?”

He had surprised himself too with that memory, it had just popped in his mind and it was just what she might need now. He had sang for her. Horribly off-key, of course, but it had been just for her, right in her ear to the lyrics of ‘The Perfect Girl’.

_You’re such a strange girl, I think you come from another world, You’re such a strange girl, the way you look like you do, you’re such a strange girl I want to be with you, I think I’m falling in love with you._

_ Elaine _ _ stared at him, unable to move or think or react for a moment, finding his reply difficult to process. The clock ticked on the wall as she sat there, remembering despite herself. _

Then she smiled.

_ "You’re a terrible singer, Harry Dresden," she said quietly. Then, more confidently. "Really awful. I’m surprised we didn’t get thrown out." She smiled, and reached a hand to touch his hair. "It was one of the nicest songs I’ve ever heard." _

He touched her knees and spoke seriously, not waiting to see if she remembered, “I want _you_ , Elaine. Nothing more nothing less. I’m not asking you for anything. If you can that is great, that is awesome. If you can’t I’ll live the rest of my life happy that I had the chance to kiss you again even if it was for this little a time.” His hand moved to stroke her cheek, “Because I would have kissed you too, tonight if you hadn’t. I was just trying to understand if you wanted to.”

She moved her hand to hold the one he touched to her cheek, closing her eyes as she did so. “I think you’ll find,” she said, into the stillness of the moment, eyes still shut but a smile on her face,”That  _you_ are the one who did the cheating. I might have spent my time with hippy faeries, but  _you’re_ the one with a kid. I mean, honestly, Harry.”

She opened her eyes, an all at once the sparkle was back in them. “So if Thomas is your brother, does that mean that threesome really is off the cards?”

He laughed when she mentioned Maggie. “Fair enough.” he said holding his hands up, “Guilty as charged, on all accounts.” He pressed his palms on the floor to get up and sit next to her again.

"He’d probably be down if you asked," he joked, "but I’m not sure I would like someone ten times hotter than I am monopolizing your attention."

"Oh, he’s prettier," Elaine said casually, shifting back into her previous leaning position, relaxing against him. He was warm. It was nice. "But I don’t know about  _hotter._ Some girls like the muscled dork thing.”

He paused for a moment lying back in the sofa, “I still love you, you know.”

She closed her eyes again, considering her response. After a few moments of silence, she said, “I hope so, since we’ve been dating for more than twenty years.” She looked across at the wall and said, “I never stopped loving you, either. I don’t mean I never loved anyone else, but you were … you  _are …_ you’re Harry.”

She turned to press her lips briefly against his cheek. “I want to do this,” she said finally, and was surprised by how true it felt. “But we’re going to have to take some things slowly, okay?”

"Oh definitely. I loved others as well… It would be terrible not to and I would be very disappointed if you hadn’t too." he laced his fingers in hers and brought her hand to his mouth to kiss the knuckles. "I’m fine with slow. I mean — I’ve missed you. I’d love to _be_ with you like that again but I will not rush into anything you’re not ready for.” he hugged her and pulled her closer to him. “I don’t know if I have mentioned this to you but I— I don’t do casual. I’ve only slept with two other women in my life, except you.”  Three if you counted Mab and the stone table but he wasn’t ready to share that just yet, “If we do this, I’m in it for good, for as long as it works for us. But I’d like to try and really make it work.”

He let his head fall back and rest against a cushion. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

Elaine’s lips twitched. “Two? Really? That’s … I don’t know. Surprising,” she said. “Then again, I’ve only had one serious relationship since you. Two, if you count … well, she didn’t count it, so neither do I.”

She mirrored his movements, relaxing back into the sofa. “The relationship thing isn’t something I’ve had much practice at. Lena was the first time I was able to since I was a kid, and then  _she_ died, and, well, I don’t know. Raging trust issues, I suppose.”

"Yep, two. Both long term relationship. Maggie’s mum and uh— a Warden that ended up being brainwashed and manipulated to date me. Did wonders for my self esteem that one." His brow creased, "I don’t plan to die on you, Elaine. I already did that once and I can’t say I liked the experience."

She smirked slightly then. “Although if we’re talking about people I’ve slept with, you’ll really have to be more specific with your definition of  _people.”_

He saw her smirk as he was leaned over her shoulder to look at her as she talked. He raised an eyebrow, “You did mention the mermaids. I wanted to ask you about that.”

"Oh, you wanted to ask me about that, did you?" Elaine asked, with a suggestive little giggle. It sounded so girlish. It was odd for Elaine to hear her own laugh. "I did them a favour," she explained, "Helped out with some minor magic stuff - the Summer selkies don’t have much in the way of spellcraft - and they decided they wanted to … reward me. With their mouths. And an underwater breathing spell. The feeling of  _weightlessness,_ Harry …”

He laughed when she did, “Aw man, I wish the Unseelie ones were as friendly as well..” he mused.

There was a brief pause. “…Three. If we broaden the definition of people.” he said.

She grinned. “Maybe I’ll go into more detail another time. Who’s your third?”

He pursed his lips when she wanted to know. Of course she did.

He stayed silent for a long long moment, his fingers moving to the back of his neck to rub it, before returning to Elaine’s arm. He started tracing patterns on her skin before she took a deep breath and spoke.

"…Mab."

Elaine stared at him for a few minutes. Then a few minutes more. Then — “Like … _Mab_ Mab? Queen of the Spooky?”

The look on his face said it all, and this time her laugh was a bona fide  _cackle._ She knew Harry probably had an explanation - she saw him once or twice trying to interrupt - but she couldn’t stop long enough to breathe, never mind to listen.

Eventually, after a solid number of minutes had passed, she choked out, “Don’t … don’t you know it’s unethical to bang your boss, Harry?”

She tried her best to hold down the laugh this time, but it was still there, coming out in little hiccoughing giggles.  _Mab._ Susan, a Warden, Elaine, and … Hell’s fucking bells,  _Mab._

He started laughing along with her again, enjoying the lightened atmosphere even though his skin had prickled when he remembered the night he had become the Winter Knight.

"Yep. _The_ Mab, she of the endless scary." he giggled along, "And uh it’s kind of in my job description to be consort to the Winter Queens." he swallowed hard, "But I don’t think any of them is interested in that. And it wasn’t exactly my choice either. Not that she _forced_ me or anything but uhm the Knighting ceremony required it." he scrunched up his nose, "At least I think it did, I don’t know, maybe she just wanted to bang me. " a shrug, "She did make a whole show of it. Literally."

"Maybe she just wanted to bang me," Elaine mimicked, though not cruelly. She was unreasonably delighted by this news.

"Why wouldn’t she?" he shrugged grinning, "I mean, we’ve already established I’m dashing and a ‘muscled hot dork’."

"Dork being the operative word here," Elaine replied, pushing him away gently after allowing him to kiss her. "I hope they  _don’t_ take you up on that consort thing, Harry, because I draw the line at sexually sharing with faerie queens.”

She had the decency, upon reviewing her own words, to look slightly embarrassed. “Well, okay, I haven’t  _quite_ drawn the line there in the past, but from now on…”

He tried to stifle his laughter and pulled her up close to his face and pressed a kiss on her cheek then raised an eyebrow at her revision.

"My, my, my Mallory, you and the little Queen?" he took a wild guess.

She blushed - actually  _blushed_ \- at Harry’s incredibly accurate guess. “In my defence, Harry, I was seventeen years old. My boyfriend had vanished. I didn’t know any better.” She couldn’t stop the flicker of amusement crossing her features. “Though I soon  _did_ know better, let me tell you.”

"I bet you did." he poked her at her side, "I, on the other hand, had Bob badger me for ten years that I wasn’t interested in getting laid." he considered that for a moment before correcting himself, "Actually not interested isn’t the right thing to say, mostly not having _time_ or trusting anyone, was the issue.”

"Who’s Bob?" Elaine asked, raising an eyebrow. "And don’t tell me he’s another lover because I already fell for that once…"

The name stirred something in her memory, though, and suddenly she was fifteen again, standing outside Justin’s office keeping an eye out while Harry snuck back out.

_"Are you done? I can’t believe you keep risking this."_

_"You should talk to him, Elaine. He’s so interesting, seriously. I tried to ask him his name today —"_

_"Harry, it’s a spirit of knowledge ten thousand times more powerful and ancient than we can even begin to imagine. It—"_

_"— And he wouldn’t tell me, so I’m going to call him Bob."_

Elaine smiled at the memory, remembering how she’s just stared at Harry silently for a good minute before turning and walking away in disgust.

"You took the magic skull and used it to berate your lack of a sex life for a decade?" she asked. "I don’t know exactly what Justin used it for, but I’m  _pretty sure_ it wasn’t that.”

"Hey it’s not like I asked him for his thoughts on the matter." Harry groaned, "Some days I needed his help for a job and all he could think of was how to raid the sororities for panties. He’s as horrible as you remember."

He crossed his arms on his chest, “Once he made me brew a love potion so he would help me find information. Little shit.”

Elaine beamed at him. “No  _way,_ " she said. "You made a love potion? That’s … that sounds fantastic. Did you drink it?" She looked up, and before he could answer, it clicked. "Did someone  _else_ drink it?” The look on his face was enough. “ _No!”_ she said in a tone of delighted scandal. “Tell me  _everything.”_

And so he did. He told her about the frog demon and fighting naked in the storm and Susan getting all handsy and desperate and— In retrospect it _was_ hilarious in its own demented way.

"Your turn for storytime now." he said, "Wanna tell me about Summer or it hurts too much?"

"I don’t mind telling. Not you. But ten years is an awful lot of story to tell," Elaine said. "You really should be more specific." She smiled, considering, and then said, “Well, I can tell you about Aurora, if you want. I found them not long after everything went to hell and, well, that year wasn’t the easiest one in my life. I cried a lot at night, that sort of thing, and she always wanted to help me, comfort me, you know, but she could never manage to make it go away.”

A little sad smile as she remembered Aurora desperately saying “let me help you” in a thousand different ways, before she continued the story.

"So it was the night of my seventeenth birthday, and that was  _terrible,_ because you might remember how well my sixteenth birthday went, and I just missed you so much, and I broke down and told her everything.”

Not everything, not really, but enough.

Then Elaine was grinning again, a smile that held amusement, nostalgia, love, and a little loss. “And she said to me, ‘You miss your lover? Silly darling child, come with me and I will heal your wounds’. So I followed her into this _massive_ bedchamber, with a bed bigger than some of the rentals I stay in, silk sheets everywhere, and I’m still not sure what’s going on. And then she’s kissing me and we’re on the bed and she’s—” Elaine coughed, feeling her cheeks warm once again. “Well. You get it. I may have got a little caught up in that memory there.”

"Them Sidhe and their huge beds." Harry nodded, "I have my own suite at Arctis Tor and let me tell you, that bed…I don’t want to get up whenever I sleep there. Not that I spend much time there anymore but…" He smirked and it was his turn to cackle at how flustered she had gotten. “That good eh? True, as scary as they are they know how to uh use their assets.”

The Pizza arrived at that moment and Harry got up to get it. He had ordered a big bottle of coke as well and disappeared in the kitchen for a while to get a pair of glasses and napkins.

 ”So how come you were late?” he said when they settled back in the sofa with the pizza, “Apart from the attack, did something happen at home?”

Elaine accepted the coke he poured for her with a nod of thanks, and chewed on her pizza before answering. “Yeah,” she said. “I spent some time at Lena’s grave. I like to do that when I’m in the area, you know? I don’t stay in one place for very long, so when I get the chance, I take some flowers, let her know what’s happening, you know. I told her I was coming to see you today. I don’t know if she’s in wizard heaven or whatever, but I swear I heard someone laugh at me.”

She took a sip of her coke before she told the rest. “And I was with Patricia,” she added. “She’s … I’m kind of looking after her at the moment. She’s a kid, same age as Maggie, powers a little too strong to be left unwatched. Her parents were both wizards, but they were also both White Council Wardens, and that means they’re both dead. Smart couple, though. Never told anyone about their kid.”

She drank from her glass again. “I helped get Patty fostered with the Joneses. Lovely couple, but they don’t have a lick of magic between them. So I make a point of spending time with her when I can, helping her out until she gets used to her magic. She’s not the first kid, and she probably won’t be the last, but she’s really clingy. Wouldn’t let me leave this morning until she’d beat me at cards.”

"Then I’m happy you stood me up. Sounds like the best pair of excuses I’ve ever heard" he smiled at her as he bit on a slice. "I— I don’t know where Susan is—." he could not bring himself to say ‘buried’ so he left it at that. "I still need to meet with my Godmother and ask her to take me to her grave."

Elaine traced the back of his free hand with her fingertips, a quiet gesture of comfort as he spoke about Susan. “You should,” she said quietly. “It’ll help. Really. And one day, when you’re ready, you should take Maggie. I know you don’t want her to remember the bad parts, but you shouldn’t let her forget everything completely, either. We both know that from experience.”

"Maggie was asking about you. She made a mistake and asked for Wendy first, then remembered your name wasn’t actually Wendy."  he downed a glass of coke in one go and poured a second to drink more slowly, "She really liked the books."

She smiled when she heard about Maggie’s name confusion. “I’m glad she enjoyed them,” she said. “Does she know you’re meeting me today?”  
"Are you kidding? She was a little annoyed I couldn’t take her along but I explained we would be doing grown up stuff and she’d be bored." he said grinning. Then a pause— "I just now realise how bad this sounds out of context. " He started laughing, his cheeks a healthy flustered red now "I promise you all the adult stuff I had planned for tonight was to perhaps grab a beer or two. She did make me promise we’ll take her along next time though." he said impishly.

"Oh, grown up stuff, huh," Elaine said, a sparkle in her eyes as she watched him trip over his own phrasing and blush like a schoolboy. She listened to his explanation, and managed - somehow - not to laugh.

"Well that’s awfully presumptuous," she said, trying to keep her facial expression neutral. "What makes you think there’ll be a next time, Dresden?"

"You would disappoint my kid?" He faked an outraged gasp, "Shame on you, Elaine." He laughed and braced himself for any pillow hitting or pizza to the face she might have to offer. Elaine stuck out her tongue, not rising to the bait. Well, a little. “Maybe I’ll come visit Maggie and not bother with you,” she said. “ _Maggie_ is nice to me.”

"Yeah, yeah, keep poking that tongue of yours out, Mallory, and I can’t promise that I won’t catch it with my lips." Harry said when she teased him. "And when have I not be nice to you?" he faked a scowl, "I’m super nice."

There was a small pause.

"Seriously though, what you’re doing for that kid, Patty is amazing."  he took a small sip from his coke. " _You_ are amazing.”

She pretended to be offended, but when Harry mentioned Patty she couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah,” she said. Then, before she could stop herself, “I  _am_ amazing, aren’t I?”

She moved a little so that she was leaning into him more, quietly expressing thanks for the compliment through her physical contact.

"Maybe one day you’ll be as amazing as me, Harry," she said. "Though I doubt it. I suppose I’ll just have to stick around to help you out."

He hugged her as she leaned against him and pulled her up so they were mostly lying against one another, “I’ll never be as amazing as you are, that’s true.” he said softly and pressed a slow kiss on her lips.

She was all ready to come up with another snappy retort, and then he kissed her, and whatever thought she’d had no longer seemed relevant. It took her mind a moment to reorient, and when he stopped kissing her, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

She smiled at him, amazed by how comfortable she felt. How easy this was. “Talk about picking up after a pause,” she said. Then, “Alright. You’ve convinced me. I’ll come back and visit you, too.”

"Alright then, it’s another date." he teased her hugging her tight for a moment, feeling his chest swell with warmth. The gentle buzz of her aura was so familiar and comforting that made him wonder how he had ever managed to let go in the past.

Elaine looked at the clock on the wall, surprised by how much time had passed since they’d gotten to the apartment. “Is your  _brother_ due back tonight?” she asked, laying a gentle, amused emphasis on the word.

"Uh no, if he’s meeting with his sister that means he’ll go see Justine afterwards. His girlfriend." he explained, "Why?”

"Well," Elaine said, and her voice was slightly hesitant as she replied. "I don’t have to be back for a while. And I _meant_ it about taking some things slowly, but I was thinking … I could stay here tonight. If you wanted. We have a lot of catching up to do and I thought … I thought it might be nice.” She smiled. “ _This_ is nice.”

"It _is_.” he agreed, pressing a kiss on the top of her head, “And yeah I want you to stay, would be a pity if you had to go so soon.”

His fingers were tracing patterns on her arm, “There’s the guest room where I sleep, you can have that bed. Or we can build a pillow fort with Thomas’s designer cushions to piss him off.” he laughed, “Or we could just cuddle together like when we were young, it wouldn’t be the first time we slept in the same bed.”

Even after they had their first awkward sexual experience, they had often crawled in each other’s bed just for comfort and warmth, just to feel close to one another, Elaine’s breath lulling Harry to sleep and vice versa.

Nightmares hadn’t been the reason Harry couldn’t fall asleep for years after had had transpired. He simply missed Elaine lying next to him, her breath warm on his skin. Sometimes they would not even kiss, just lie there in each other’s arms talking until the wee hours of the morning.

"I quite like the idea of sharing," Elaine admitted. "It’s been a while since I shared a bed with someone. Even if we’re not going to have sex or anything like that, I like the idea of being close to you."

Her cheeks went a little pink, not so much out of embarrassment as out of surprise at her own frank admission. It was a little odd, how easily the words rose to her lips, how easy it was to just admit that she wanted to be around him. It had been a long, long time since she’d felt so comfortable.

Then the smirk was back. “You know,” she said casually. “I don’t have any pyjamas with me. I might have to sleep in my underwear. I hope you wouldn’t mind too much.”

"Hell’s Bells, you’re still as horrible as then. Believe me, I can control myself." he laughed and the next set of words came before he had the chance to filter it, "I’ve spent a lot of time learning to do just that."

It was true, after the scary realisation that his mantle could very well turn him into a sexual predator and/or a murderer if he let it, he had spent the better part of his waking hours learning to control it. Molly had helped, Thomas had helped, even freaking Mab had helped. Apparently, as Molly had pointed out, Mab needed a Dexter Morgan not a Marquis de Sade.He realised he probably needed to explain himself, |The Knight’s mantle is tricky to control.”

"I’m not _horrible_ ,” Elaine protested, mock-offended. “I’m actually just so nice that it sails right over your head.” When he said the next part, and explained, she went quiet for a moment. Her experience with Summer might have been parallel, but it wasn’t the _same._ She thought of the Summer Knight she’d known. Reuel had been a pleasant guy, as guys went. He’d been an old man, kindly and a good listener, quite quiet. Hell’s bells, he’d been an  _artist._ Sexual predator, he was not.

And then she thought of Aurora, of her gentleness, of her softness and kindness. Sure, Elaine had slept with her, but it had been sex without the intense, raw _sexuality_ that she’d sensed from - for a very pertinent example - her counterpart, Maeve. Not that she’d been with Maeve, of course, but the point was there.

And she’d never met Lloyd Slate, but the … _things_ … Lily had told her …

She shuddered delicately, looking at Harry again with a slightly different expression, a sudden thrill of excitement, anticipation, and, above all, fear.

Then she closed her eyes, and breathed. Once, twice, fix the rhythm like she always did. She opened her eyes again, and gave him a small smile. “Without the coat, Peter’s still Peter,” she said. “And in this case, Peter is a stubborn little shit. I’m not worried.”

"Stubborn little shit. Three of my middle names." Harry nodded his face breaking into a huge smile, "Apparently the last Winter Knight who had the balls to try and oppose the mantle has passed on to legend."

And he had apparently broken _out_ of it too. Harry knew Mab needing him as her Knight had something to do with being a Starborn and her War against the Outsiders but he couldn’t help but feel an intense thrill in his gut whenever he thought of the legend of Tam Lin and how he had managed to escape the Queen of Faerie on Halloween.  
The night the mantles are so fluid they be assumed or discarded.

"Does that come before or after the other two?" Elaine asked, a hint of a grin playing on the corner of her lips. "I know those too, remember."

She remembered vividly the first time she’d deliberately invoked Harry’s Name, decades before. It had been one of the times where the awkward sex had changed a little into something more … natural. And Harry, being Harry, had looked into her eyes and said “I love you.” So of course, she’d looked down at him and replied, “I love you too, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.”

The reaction she’d gotten from his body had been  _very_ interesting, to put it mildly.

When he spoke about the last Knight to oppose his mantle, she frowned slightly in thought. When she spoke again, it was thoughtfully, despite the flippant tone she employed. “Well, it wouldn’t exactly be the first time you passed into legend, would it?” she said lightly. “Harry Dresden, slayeriser - ” she borrowed Maggie’s words - “Of the  _entire_ Red Court. Harry Dresden, public enemy number one for the White Court at the  _same time_ as being the crowd favourite. Harry Dresden, defeater of the evil sorcerer Justin DuMorne.”

She shot him a look, and a low, heated smile. “Harry Dresden, Elaine Mallory’s first taste of the whole world. That one beats the rest, I’d say.”

"Heh, you think I’m legendary?" Harry smiled goofily at her, "Fancy that."

He held her for a moment gazing in her eyes, studying her face then leaned in and kissed just an inch away from the corner of her mouth, “You got a little cheeze there” he said, “from the pizza, I just thought I’d\--” with every word he kept pressing small kisses closer to her lips, “\--pick on it.” he finished talking capturing her lips with his own again while he shifted and lay on his lap, bringing her on top of him as he kissed her.

She let out a little gasp as he pulled her on top of him, her whole body stiffening in protest … for maybe half a second, before she just  _melted._ It wasn’t so much a case of not knowing what she was doing as knowing  _exactly_ what she was doing and wanting it to continue.

Her body moulded into his, and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer, opening her mouth a little, teasing with her tongue in a way that sent frissons of delight through her that reminded her of an age long forgotten.

She moved one hand, running it gently, slowly down his side, returning it to the place where she’d interrupted herself not long ago, just under the hem of his shirt. The muscles there were hard and lean, which was new, but not surprising, really. Suddenly, both his shirt and hers seemed like far too much of a barrier.

She groaned and pushed herself gently back so that she could look into his eyes again, and a small, not-quite-disapproving look on her face. With the hand that wasn’t still resting firmly under his shirt, she gestured at her own position. “You are making it very difficult to keep to my word to myself,” she said sternly, her voice coming out a little husky. “Was there even any cheese?”

"Yeah I regret nothing." he told her, "You’re a grown ass woman you can restrain yourself if you want to."

He pulled her back in for another kiss this time fiercer than before, her hand touching his skin under his shirt bringing some very interesting reactions from him. His own hands moved to her shirt but stopped before delving under the hem, running over her sides instead, thumbs gently touching just under her breasts. “There was a _little_ cheese.” he admitted.

She shivered as he ran his hands down her sides, the too-big borrowed silk shirt brushing against her skin in quite a pleasant fashion.

"Harry," she groaned, gently taking his hands in hers and pushing them back towards his own body. "You are the most frustrating man I have ever met. I said slow, and I meant slow, okay? This is … this is great, but I _really_ don’t want to freak out again.”

She paused for a second.

"Well, I mean,  _slow_ is a relative term, I guess. We could meet in the middle. I want to be closer to you, so … I’ll take your shirt off, you can take mine off, the rest of our clothes stay  _on.”_ She gave him a wicked little smile, glancing down. “Assuming your pants don’t burst before the end of the night.”

"Hey, I suggested nothing," he said innocently, "I am not the one who has their hands under someone’s shirt." he flashed her a wicked grin, "You cannot resist my charms."

He did take up on her offer though and helped her out of her shirt before sitting up a little so she could removed his and then hugged her, her skin touching his like that after more than twenty years.

"I have a second pair of pants." he said suddenly, "You know in case these exploded. But I buy them roomy so they should be fine."

"Oh, well, in that case I’m glad. Wouldn’t want to be responsible for destroying your only pair. You’d have to do your job half-naked."

She ran her eyes over his shirtless body, acutely aware that most of his skin was pressed against hers, hot and comfortable. “I’m pretty sure your boss wouldn’t mind, though.  _I_ certainly wouldn’t.” She trailed a hand along his torso, looking faintly annoyed, feeling faintly impressed. “When did this happen? This just isn’t  _fair.”_

_ "When did what happen? The million scars or me getting abs?" he joked. He had gone through a very demanding exercise program while training as the Winter Knight and after so much time on the island with not much to do, parkour had helped too. _

She continued to trace his body, examining the new, remembering the old, and absently, barely paying attention to her own words, said, “So, what, are you going to start calling me your girlfriend again? Show me off to your friends? Pick up where we left off, except without the murder-y foster father thing?”

"You bet I will call you my girlfriend, if you like that term, and I sure as hell going to show you off to my friends because you’re amazing. You’re something else. And I want to pick up wherever we left. Trash away the bad things and make us a love story Disney would be jealous of." he cupped her face and kissed her again, "We both deserve a happy ending, Elaine."

His kiss was short but sweet, and when he was finished, Elaine ducked her head away, hiding her face from few, pressing into his chest. It took a few moments to realise that she was crying.

They weren’t, unlike before, tears of panic or unhappiness. They weren’t bitter tears. She just suddenly felt incredibly overwhelmed, and not necessarily in a bad way. Wrapped in Harry’s arms, her head buried in his chest, she felt …  _whole_ … in a way she just hadn’t in a long, long time. Like she’d just found something she didn’t know what she was missing.

"Happy ending?" she said, when she was able to speak again, her voice muffled by his skin, his muscles, his body. "Harry, you were my happy beginning. We’ve got a long journey a head of us, both of us. You have your job. I have mine. You have a world to save. I have a world to keep running in the background. I don’t know if we’ll both still be alive next week."

She sniffed, then pulled back again enough to see his face again. “But with you, Harry Dresden … to live would be an awfully big adventure.”

"Yeah well, crazier things have happened. I’ve tried dying, I don’t feel like trying it again soon" he hugged her tight and held her close for a moment, "Didn’t like the taste, you know?" he said his thumb wiping away a tear that had fallen on her cheek.

"As for what’s fair that you mentioned earlier…" he whispered in her ear, hands brushing on the side of her breasts this time, "I could tell you exactly which parts of you are not fair at all but you wanted to take it slow."

She shivered again against his touch, then stretched up to press her lips to his again firmly, for a few seconds. Then she pushed away, disentangling herself and getting to her feet.

"Just because you’re playing to the letter of the rules, doesn’t mean you’re being the spirit, Harry," she said. mock-annoyed. "You’re obviously spending too much time with faeries."

She turned and began to walk to the hallway of the apartment. “I need to use the bedroom,” she told him.

It wasn’t until she’d left the room that she realised her mistake. She opened the door again, popped her head back in, and said, “I meant _bathr_ oom. “

Harry blinked. Then blinked again. Then started laughing. Laughing so hard he was sure there was an ass-kicking coming his way anytime now.

"Freudian slip, Mallory?" he called between gouts of laughter as she retreated back in the safety of the bathroom. "Hell’s Bells."

"I hate you!" she shouted through as soon as his laughter hit her ears. She finished up quickly, washed her hands thoroughly, and decided that wiping the laughter off his stupid face trumped whatever her other plans had been for that night.

She heard him call out about Freudian slips as she turned off the water, and she dried her hands on a towel and practically  _marched_ back into the living room.

She strode over to the couch and - despite his height - didn’t have all that much difficulty pulling him to his feet. “No,” she replied calmly. “Just a slip of timing. I meant both, just got them in the wrong order. You can take me there now if you like.” 

That sure made him shut up.

He stared at her and was about to say ‘are you sure?’ but saw the look on her face, a mix of irritation and amusement and sheer stubbornness that hit him like a time-machine and he suddenly was sixteen again and gawky and stammering and awkward.

He had an absurd two seconds of thinking whether them being wizards would break a time-machine and he then leaned forward put one arm around Elaine’s back and another under her knees and picked her up effortlessly as if she weighed no more than a pillow.

"As you wish." he said simply and started walking to the bedroom.

Another woman might have objected to being carried around, but Elaine found herself giggling as she was quite literally swept off her feet. She did, it transpired, quite _enjoy_ being treated like a princess - and, as someone who had taken charge in every “relationship” she’d had since she was twenty or so, this was quite a nice change of pace.

She looped her arms around his neck, holding on as he kicked open the bedroom door like a scene straight from a movie. At his words, she snorted. “Do you have some sort of compulsion where you have to behave like a total dork _at all times,_ however inappropriate?” she asked him conversationally as he placed her on the bed. “I mean, I’m not complaining, but I feel like I should prepare myself if you’re going to make a joke about boldly going where few men have gone before.”

He stared at her curiously for a moment then realisation struck as he was lying next to her.

"Ewwww Star Trek, Elaine? Seriously?" he shook his head with a grim expression. "This changes everything." He said with fake exasperation before leaning in to kiss her with a smirk on his face.

 

"Oh, I’m sorry. Would you have preferred the ‘I love you’/’I know’" reference?" Elaine said, after he’d kissed her. "I’m sorry I’m so flexible, although I’m pretty sure you won’t be complaining about  _that_ for long.”

"Yeah ok, I see where you get the dork part." he said as his fingers curled around hers. "I actually already used the ‘I love you/I Know’ thing." he grinned, " When you yelled you hated me from the bathroom, i replied ‘I know' but you missed it. Shame."

"I’ve missed a lot of things," she replied, enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin, enjoying how familiar and yet  _ exciting  _ and new it felt. 

She propped herself up on her side, looking down at him, then bent and ran a little trail of kisses down his collar bone. “Do you forgive me yet?” she asked.

"Shut up."  he said as he cupped her face pulling her back up so he could kiss her again, his hand soon leaving her chin to delve to her sides, his palm resting on the small of her back.

It was such a strange yet familiar sensation lying there with Elaine in the semi-dark guest room, her breath sounding exactly the same more than two decades later. His hands moved again and roamed all over her back, tracing from her shoulders down to her shoulder-blades, then back closer to her rear. She had one hand resting on his chest as he kissed her, and when his hands moved lower down her back she felt a sudden wave of heat wash through her.

He was too afraid to move faster, afraid he’d might do or say something to trigger a panic attack again but he was happy to let her set the pace, content to just lie there with her.

After a while the kiss ended and he studied her face for a moment,

She closed her eyes, revelling in it for a few moments, before opening them again and looking straight into the most familiar, most unfamiliar eyes she’d ever seen.

"I said," she told him, "That I wanted to take it slow."

With the back of her free hand, she stroked the side of his face. She could feel the stubble there, an oddly new, oddly thrilling addition. She moved her hand up to settle in his hair and pulled his head down for a kiss of her own, a long, slow kiss, her mouth open, her tongue re-acquainting itself with his taste, her body moving to press herself closer to him. When she finally had to stop to breathe, the heat was a hot, steady pulse. “So I guess we’ll just have to go  _very_ slowly,” she said. “If you think you can manage. I know you always liked a challenge.”

"I went a literal decade and then some without sex and that was when I was a teenager, Elaine." he said only half-joking. "Your challenge is not a challenge. I told you I’m good with taking it slow and I meant it."

 

Elaine stared at him for a moment, a decidedly different sort of warmth settling around her face. He was … god, he was  _adorable._ Yes, attractive, powerful, strong … but really, above all that, he was the same cute awkward boy she’d loved all those years before.

"That’s sweet, Harry," she said. "Really. But, uh, I think you’re missing my point."

She trailed a hand down his side, coming to a rest at the top of his pants. She let her fingers rest there for a moment, lightly, before dipping them under the waist, just barely, just enough to feel the skin there. “There’s more than one kind of  _slow,”_ she said, with a small laugh.

Oh.

_Oooooh._

Right so he was blushing. Harry Dresden, Wizard, Warden of the White Council, Winter Knight was blushing at the suggestion slow sensual sex.

Well, he was a dork they had established that already.

He traced his fingernails all over her back, his finger inevitably catching on the band of her bra. He gave it a small tug but let it be and continued tracing patterns on her skin. He shrugged, “Just lying with you here is enough for me, anything else is an added bonus.”

When he tugged at her bra, she snorted. “Harry, I think you can have that added bonus,” she said. “But if you’re going to insist on being a gentleman … “

Performing a feat of gymnastics rarely seen by mankind (but often seen by women), she twisted her body and released the hooks of the bra with her free hand. 

"There," she said, satisfied. "Now you can lie next to me _and_ my breasts. You lucky man.” She withdrew her other hand, sitting back up a little in order to remove the thing properly.

When she had done so, and it had been appropriately discarded to the floor, she laughed. “This is decidedly less awkward than the last time you went for my bra, at least.”

He shivered at her touch then watched her as she artfully removed her bra, his eyes leaving her face to shift lower to the soft swell of her breasts. He swallowed hard and ran a calloused palm up her back again caressing the spot where the band had been pressing before.

"You didn’t give me the chance to show you what I’ve learned in terms of bra undoing," he croaked, realising his throat was dry as his hand moved from her back to the front. He licked his lips and pulled her in a kiss again his mouth slowly trailing down her chin to her neck and eventually lower.

He made it a point to move very very slowly.

"You can’t have learned all that much if you’ve only…" Elaine started to tease, but her words trailed off into nothing as his mouth found her breast, and his hand her other, and a shock of pleasant sensation went out through her whole body.

Well, if this was what usually followed bra undoing, maybe he  _had_ had a lot of practice, after all.

She tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him firmly in place, and then when the feeling got too intense, too much to bear, she pulled his head back up to hers and kissed him, biting gently on his lips, teasing, tasting. When she finally had to release him again to breathe, her breath came out in short, high, gasps.

She reached up, tracing a finger along the outline of his lips, swollen slightly from her kisses, and said in a breathless tone, “These are good. I’ve missed these.”

”Like you, I’ve missed a lot of things too.” he smiled, short of breath himself. His hand remained where it was, gently caressing, fondling and teasing her nipples as she kissed him. His other hand moved to brush her hair off her face and then cup her cheek as he looked in her eyes, shivering when her teeth caught his lips.

"I love you." he said after a while.

At those words, she went still. She stared up at him, almost not comprehending, for a few minutes, then gently moved her hands to hold his wrists in place, stopping him from moving any further.

"That’s not slow," she said, half-joking, her voice barely above a whisper. "You … you can’t just come out with that. You have to … " Have to what? "We’ve only … " Only what?

She trailed off, unable to finish her own sentence. That phrase wasn’t one she threw around often. She’d only used it with three people in her entire life - four, maybe, if you included her mother, but Elaine could hardly remember that. She’d told Harry that she loved him when they were kids, of course, and she’d said it to Lena, eventually, after two long years together. She’d said it to Aurora, once, though she’d gotten no further response than a smile.

Love was one of those things that Elaine often found herself questioning the meaning of, and to hear those words directed at her … more importantly, to hear those words directed at her by  _him …_

It caused a whirl of emotions and sensations, flickering through her brain too quickly to identify, stopping her temporarily from even being able to complete her own sentences.

"I thought you pretty much got the gist earlier when I said I never stopped loving you." he smiled at her, "What you thought I was kidding? I expected you to reply ‘I know’, Mallory, you disappoint me."

"Saying that you … that … when we’re talking and you phrase it differently is different from saying those words in that order while we’re …  _this_ … and …”

Stars and stones, but she was flustered. Blushing bright red and stammering, she felt like a teenager with a crush.

He could almost see her thoughts reflected on her face and moved his wrists to bring her hands to his mouth to kiss.

"I have only said this to one other person, romantically, and that was Maggie’s mum." he confessed, "It might scare you but I don’t say it lightly. And I don’t expect anything from you in return for it."

She listened to what he said about Maggie’s mother, and was ready to respond before another thought occurred to her.

"What about Maggie?" she said, ignoring how absurd it was to ask this question now, sprawled out half-naked on a bed under the man she—

Under Harry.

"I know you said she liked me," she carried on regardless, "But there’s a difference between that and …"

A small part of her was scolding her for putting a pause on things -  _again_ \- but they theoretically had more than two hundred years to finish this if they so wanted. Now,  _there_ was a daunting thought … but Elaine found her lips turning up into a small smile at it.

"You don’t have to be Maggie’s mom if you don’t want to." he realised that sounded harsh, "No— I don’t mean you don’t want to, I mean— Maggie’s almost eleven she understands her mother is gone and that there will someday be someone else in my life." he sighed deeply.

"She is getting to know me as well, you know." he admitted, "After Mexico— After— I was gone for two years and a half and the only time she had seen me was when I took her away from the monsters and her dead mother. I might be her dad but she’s only known me

\-- _really_ known me for less than a year. “

"Well, yeah," Elaine said. She moved, wriggling out from underneath him so that he could lie beside her again, wrapping herself in his arms. Elaine wasn’t used to being held by someone taller and generally bigger than her. It gave her a strange feeling of security. "But that’s my point. She’s just getting to know you … how can I come into your life, _her_ life, as suddenly your … girlfriend?”

She snuggled up against him, enjoying his warmth, his scent. “I just think she might be a little upset by the idea.” Then she let out a dry chuckle. “Then again, what do I know about kids and their fathers?”

"Ok, remember how she asked if you were my special friend? Well she has spent the last few weeks chewing my ear off about why _aren’t_ you my special friend.” he fell back in the pillows when Elaine moved from underneath him and he turned so he could look at her. "We could get to know her together."

Elaine felt a little spark of unexpected delight at his words. “ _Really?_ " she asked, somewhat bemused. The girl had liked her that much? So much that she wanted …

Huh.

And, she supposed, she wouldn’t be here all the time. She had a job to do, just as much as Harry did. She couldn’t stop visiting Patricia and the Joneses for overnights for at least another few years, and there were always more kids like her waiting to be saved from their own magic. And on top of that, the minor talents needed guidance, and the Paranet needed a source, and… 

And Maggie would have plenty of time to get used to her, in that case, wouldn’t she?

Elaine relaxed a little, absentmindedly stroking Harry’s bare arm as she did so. “We were going to call her Lillian, remember?” she said, after a pause, remembering the endless conversations they’d had about their future when the present felt bleak. “Or Malcolm, if he was a boy. We had it all planned out.” She smiled. “Maggie’s good though. Your mom was Margaret, right? Did you name Maggie?”

"No. I— I didn’t even know she existed." he said pressing his lips firmly together, "Not until she was in danger. Not until the reds had taken her." His hand was moving absently on her sides, tracing her skin again and rested once again on her rear, not fondling or caressing, just rested there on her borrowed jeans. "Susan named her after my mother. And Susan— she’s gone but I don’t know if I have forgiven her for keeping Maggie from me for eight years." he admitted, "I missed her first steps, her first words, her first smile. Everything. But she’s my little girl and I’ll make new memories."

He kissed her again, before pulling back and staring her for a moment, “And we could still have our Lilian or our Malcolm. We have time.”

Elaine frowned. She hadn’t realised … she’d known Maggie hadn’t been in his life, but she’d assumed … well, actually, she hadn’t thought about it very much. She’d just assumed it was another layer of the secrets keeping Maggie safe, ripped away when Susan died. Which it had been, in a way, but she hadn’t really understood that it’d been a secret even from Harry.

"Parents do crazy things to keep their kids safe," Elaine said softly. She didn’t want to upset him, of course, and she hadn’t known Susan, but some part of her made her feel the need to explain on the dead woman’s behalf. "I mean, it wasn’t right of her to keep Maggie from you, of course, but with the situation … "

"No, I get why she did it. I get it. I do." he rubbed his eyes, "I don’t _like_ it but I get it. That doesn’t mean I can forgive it though.” He inhaled deeply making his chest swell and then let it our slowly through his nose.

She paused, trying to work out how to phrase the next part. “You told me today that you have a brother,” she said gently. “An  _older_ brother _._ That I didn’t know about. When did you find out about him? I know it took longer than eight years, and it definitely wasn’t in the six before you entered the system. Seems to me that your mom - well, your dad, I guess - kept back what they had to, to keep you safe, even when it hurt.” She smiled at him then. “But I saw you with Thomas. You’re so comfortable. He’s still as much your brother as if you'd been raised together from birth. You’re not wasting your time regretting what you missed, right?”

She let the comparison hang there, not wanting to push too hard, aware that she’d already probably said too much. "And … as for Lillian or Malcolm or whoever else … how about we get to know Maggie properly before we worry about that?" she said, in a light tone, placing gentle emphasis on the "we".

"I was 31? I think I was 31 when I found out about Thomas. I’m not sure my dad knew though. Even if he did it was not his secret to tell. And yeah I’m close to Thomas. We’ve been through a lot of shit together and he always has my back."

Harry reached and caught her hand again,

"I see your point though. Maggie has talent. We have all the time in the world to get to know her."

That _we_ again.

"If we manage to get through the next decade without being murdered by child-snatching fish men or angry faeries, yeah," Elaine replied, with a smirk. "Good thing you know how to keep your head down, Harry."

They lay there in silence, hand in hand, for what felt like an age. This day … it had not gone the way she’d expected it to, to say the least. She thought she’d be back by now, sorting out the notes, filing her information, the usual, boring, every day tasks that kept her alive and human.

Instead, she was here, with Harry, and feeling complete in a way that she hadn’t in … well, in over twenty years. She’d loved Lena desperately, but this was … this went beyond even that.

"I do love you too, you know," she said into the now almost complete darkness, her voice small and quiet, her words rushed as if to push them out before she could talk herself out of it. "I never stopped either."

He pulled her closer in his arms and hugged her tight. “I know.” he replied simply, “Don’t be pissed at me I’m not Han Soloing you, you just— It shows you know? You might not understand it but it shows in your eyes.”

This felt nice and familiar and cozy. Her breath was warm against his skin and he could almost hear her heartbeat when they were not talking.

He remembered their first time together. She had crawled in his bed silently, tried to use her limited reiki healing all over the bruises and lashes left by Justin after yet another disciplinary beating for a minor thing. Harry would never flinch or complain during those but he had often retreated to his room claiming he was not hungry.

They had ended up much like they were right now, hands all over each other, too afraid to make a sound and when she had pulled him to her and they had joined together Harry had locked his eyes to hers triggering the soulgaze. It was worth it going through it, if only for being able to look into Elaine’s eyes whenever he wanted. And she had become his everything.

His hand brushed against her side, fingers grazing on her naked skin his other hand pulling her in a deep hungry, needy kiss.

This time, her body responded even before she’d had time to mentally react. She threw her arms around his neck, tangling her hands in his hair, locking him into the kiss. One of her legs hooked around his, drawing him nearer, When air once again became a necessity, she drew back her face only a few inches, panting slightly, and said, “I’m going to get these borrowed jeans all sweaty if we keep this up, and I don’t want to ruin them. Will you take them off for me?”

He stared at her as she spoke then with a low growl, that he was sure had only a tiny pinprick of Mantle in it, caught her mouth in a kiss again as his hands slid from her shoulders down her sides and ultimately to the front of her borrowed jeans, fumbling with the button.

His mouth soon left hers to move down her collarbone to her breasts then her abdomen and his lips followed the waistband of the jeans trailing her leg with kisses as he pulled the pants off of her, the pale light coming from the window shining on her bare legs. He then made his way back up in the same way, lingering at her stomach for a moment, pressing a kiss that was half suck half bite just above her belly-button before slithering up to her lips again.

The kisses making their way down her body were like a little path of flame, and Elaine imagined she could almost see the invisible trail they left behind them. The kiss on her stomach was pleasant, but also tickled slightly, causing her to giggle a little before Harry’s lips found hers again.

She was still smiling as he kissed her, and she could taste his need, his passion, and her giggle turned into a low sound of satisfaction. She ran both her hands down his bare back, pressing slightly so that her nails very lightly scratched at his skin, making her way from his shoulder blades to the very bottom of his back. From there, she moved her hands around his sides, slowly, and stopped at the front of his own jeans, feeling his button there. With a brief questioning look, she silently popped the button open, her intentions clear. Clear to herself, finally, as well as to him.

He kicked off his pants when she unbuttoned them without stopping kissing her, he held her close from her waist, his hand daring to touch her rear only for a few seconds each time but he was getting fired up pretty quickly.

He could feel his mantle stirring, demanding, bitching after being shut down so many times and he buried his face in her neck for a moment breathing in and out deeply gently pushing the mantle back, locking it away. He wanted this to be just him and her, like before. Winter had no place between them. He realised he was panting against her neck.

"We don’t have to— If you’re still not sure I mean—" he said close to her ear pressing a kiss on her cheek, "Only if you want to."

"Harry," she said, a swell of affection battling with a much more primal swell of irritation. "A hot girl just took off your pants and you’re hesitating. That is so  _you.”_ Her eyes sparkled as she looked into his face, but there was another emotion there too, more deep and warm and carnal. “I’m sure,” she said, twining her legs around him again, feeling the weight of him on her, the places where their skin touched sizzling with electricity.

She gently pulled his face up to hers and kissed him. “If you are,” she added, as an afterthought.

He nodded at her and then they started kissing again. He never really got wind of their underwear coming off as well as he was too busy touching her, tasting her skin, looking in her eyes, to notice. He held her close for several minutes after they were both naked until he finally found himself on top of her as they rolled on the crisp sheets.

Gently, he positioned himself between her legs and with his eyes never leaving hers slowly slipped inside her his breath shaky and ragged.

Time lost all meaning and her body and his became the central focus of her entire universe. Touches, kisses, murmured words of love and lust and adoration, those were all that seemed to matter. The build was slow, tender and beautifully agonising in the impatience it caused, but when she hit that point she felt like she was flying.

In the technical sense, it wasn’t the most mind-blowing sex she’d ever had, not really, but it was up there in her top three favourite times. The passion, the intensity, they’d been there, and the technique certainly didn’t leave all that much to be desired, but …

As they lay together, bodies still entangled, the sweat drying cold on their skin, and Elaine thought about what it actually  _meant._ What it meant for now and, perhaps even more significantly, what it meant from now on.

And that was the part that sent the experience to the top of the charts.

The time machine feeling hit him again only this time it was a hundred times intensified and warmer and better and wonderful. They had both been with queens of Faerie and somehow, _somehow,_ this still felt better - at least to him. The familiarity and pure emotion of the whole ordeal had made their lovemaking so intense that Harry caught himself heaving and weak in the knees when it was over.

He held her close, placing kisses on her shoulders and cheeks and hair, not willing to let go of her warmth.

The silence stretched out for a long time, a comfortable silence that lead them close to sleep, a silence of contentment, of happiness. Of warmth and safety. Of _them._

"So," Elaine said finally, in a dreamy, sleep-tinged tone, "This is the part, if I remember right, where we fall asleep. And then you wake me up at four and tell me you heard someone come upstairs and I have to get back to my room before they see, right?" She was joking of course, but there was a certain … thrill to it. To knowing she  _didn’t_ have to go anywhere. It might seem like a tiny, silly, thing, but to Elaine it meant worlds.

"Noone’s coming to beat me up this time." he half-joked sleepily. "I could do with some sleep though but sleeping with you by my side is even better." he smiled and was soon in deep sleep.

 


	2. Chapter 2

It could have been 4AM, it might as well had been 5 but the light was suddenly on and Thomas was standing at the door of the bedroom.

"Oh I’m sorry," he said with a **huge** grin on his face that implied that, no, he was not sorry at all, “The door was  wide open so I assumed Harry was either gone or alone.”

Elaine jumped, sitting bold upright as the light went on, the blankets falling away from her, her sleep-addled mind telling her to prepare her defences immediately. She had actually gathered a fair bit of power to her before her brain caught up and she was able to squint enough to see who was there.

"Oh," she said, a little stupidly, looking down at her own exposed body, then back at the man in the doorway. Then a small smile played on her face at the ridiculousness - and the strange  _normalcy -_ of the situation.

"Thomas, right?" she asked, yawning and stretching a little. "I borrowed your clothes. I hope you don’t mind. Harry, your brother’s here to speak to you."

"Get out, Thomas." Harry drawled sleepily pulling the blanket over his head.

"I was going to scold you for leaving your fuckin’ pizza on my coffee table and also for not using coasters." Thomas started, looking at Elaine’s naked form appreciatively, flashing her another smile, "But I see you have had a good reason for not tidying up. I’m still mad about the coasters."

"In his defense, I distracted him willingly and forcefully from the pizza. He was annoying me and I had to prove a point, you know?" Elaine said conversationally.

"You are the slobbiest slob on the planet, Thomas, you don’t get to lecture me on coasters, now get out. Harry said below the covers and then his brain caught up.  _I see you have had a good reason_

Hell’s Bells.

He groaned and uncovered his head and looked at him studying Elaine and growled.

"Can you please stop checking out my _girlfriend?”_

She had noticed him looking, and although she felt the frisson of tension and stirring of heat that any woman - or man, or anyone else for that matter - would get from being scrutinised by a White Court vampire, it was surprisingly and noticeably not much stronger than when she saw someone particularly attractive in the street. Perhaps she had a resistance somehow. She didn’t know all that much about the Courts - she’d been too busy with the  _other_ Courts.

"Calm down, Harry," Elaine said tetchily as he told Thomas off. "It’s not his fault that he’s looking. Most people do when I’m — " She trailed off, then, and a fierce, girlish, blush appeared on her face. She hadn’t been affected by her own nakedness, or the audience, but … "You said  _girlfriend,”_ she said, feeling the stupid broad smile on her face. “Like, to not just me.”

Thomas’ laughter was the next thing she heard. She looked back at him, giving him a small frown, and he beamed at her in response. “Adorable,” he said.

She gave him a challenging smirk of her own. “Says the incubus who wasn’t home because he was on a date with his girlfriend.”

Thomas looked, if anything, more amused by her comment. “Do you often talk about me as a form of foreplay, Harry? I’m flattered, but some people might think it’s a bit weird.”

"Please, you just staring hard at people is foreplay and your little stunt made her assume we’re an item." Harry groaned, arm over his eyes to shield them from the light.

"Oh I do that on purpose!" Thomas said delighted as he started removing his gloves, "It’s really funny seeing your face when people assume you’re my gay giant boyfriend." he paused, "After all you started it."

"Shut up." Harry growled again and turned on his side.

"Not going to lie, before I found out about the whole  _brothers_ angle, I didn’t really mind the gay boyfriend part so much,” Elaine said, shrugging. When Harry turned away, she laughed slightly and placed a hand on his shoulder for a few seconds before turning back to Thomas.

"Let us introduce properly this time." Thomas said, which was hilarious as she was naked lying in bed next to his equally naked brother. Thomas walked closer to Elaine and offered his hand to her, "Thomas, bastard of House Raith at your service."

She held out her hand in return. “Elaine Mallory, queen of the Paranet,” she joked. She clasped Thomas’ hand, and was shocked when he swore and jumped back, tripping and almost falling backwards, clutching at the hand he’d wrenched away with the other one.

"Are you alright?" Elaine asked, half getting out of bed, alarmed and concerned.

Thomas looked at her, his expression bewildered. As Elaine watched, it changed into a thousand different emotions - surprise, understanding, shock … and then a smile appeared on his face, different from the grins from before. “Empty night, Harry,” he said, his voice soft. “You kept _that_ quiet.”

"Kept  _what_ quiet?” Elaine demanded. “What  _happened?_ Are you hurt?”

"So you’re _that_ Elaine.” Thomas kept grinning despite the blisters that had formed on his hand, “Empty Night, Harry.” he repeated.

"You’ll heal." Harry murmured turning again and passing Elaine his t-shirt, the button down silk shirt being out of his reach. "Consider it payback for checking out my girl." He grinned.

Elaine accepted the t-shirt and pulled it over her head without paying much attention, too busy staring at Thomas’s blistered hand. “What … payback? Is one of you going to tell me what you’re talking about?”

"Oh," Thomas replied easily, examining his burned hand with some fascination. "No, I wouldn’t dream of interfering in this."

"Interfering in  _what?_

 _“_ This is one of the most impressive burns I’ve had in  _years,_ Harry.”

Elaine turned away, annoyed now, to face Harry. “What, exactly, is going on here?” she demanded. It felt more than annoying, not knowing. Her  _business_ was knowing things.

"Empty Night." Thomas said for a third time and started laughing hard, cackling really as he saw the look of annoyance and not understanding on Elaine’s face. "I’ll just go run some iced water on this." Thomas said still grinning like mad, "You explain to her."

He scuttled out of the room his cackling echoing from the kitchen and Harry turned to Elaine.

"Remember how I said I love you and you said you love me back?"

Elaine sighed, exasperated, folding her arms across her t-shirt covered chest. “Yes, Harry, I remember. We had this big drama over it. It was maybe six hours ago. The sex wasn’t so mindblowing that I lost my memory. What about it?”

She looked back to the door as the cackling sounds reached her, and scowled. Definitely Harry’s brother. Any doubt she’d had about that - not that she’d had any - would have been long gone by now.

"Gee thanks," he said faux-insulted and poked her side.  "Look, you know how the Sidhe and the fae cannot abide the touch of iron?" he said finally having found a way to explain it easily, "White Court are like that only it’s true love’s touch they can’t stand. It’s poison to them, it burns them.  They can’t even begin to try manipulating someone with mind juju when that someone is protected by true love’s touch." He took the hand that had burned Thomas in his own and kissed it, “I know this is the cheesiest shit ever but, you and Me, what we have here, it’s the real thing.”

Elaine stared at him for a moment, then broke out into the widest grin. “No way. No  _way._ You’re telling me that I have some sort of psychic shield that was activated by sleeping with you?” She grinned at him, not quite ready to face the wider implications of the magical love shield. “Man, talk about perks.”

"How about you don’t talk about _perks_ with the door still wide open?” Thomas’ voice said from the doorway, and Elaine turned back to see the vampire leaning against the frame, his hand bandaged in clean white linen. “Although you’re right. It’s up there with the benefits of love and all that human stuff. Harry, Lara is going to be  _pissed.”_

 _“_ Who’s Lara?” Elaine asked him, and Thomas snorted.

"My beloved sister," he replied. "Other side of the family. She and Harry have a long-running chess game, except instead of chess pieces it’s just Harry and Lara, and instead of chess, it’s my sister trying to get into my brother’s pants and being turned down. And now she can’t.  _Again.”_

Elaine paused for a moment to digest this information. Then she said, “Does your sister look like you?” Thomas nodded, and then burst into a fresh round of cackles when Elaine turned back to Harry and said, incredulous, “You are a  _way_ better person than I am, Harry.”

"My sister looks _better_ than me. At least by Harry’s standards. You know because she has breasts and all. And Harry here, bless his heart, has the self control of a saint. Did you know the old Winter Lady basically waved her naked ass at him and he turned her down? Maeve was _pissed.”_

"Hell’s Bells, will you shut up, Thomas?" Harry groaned pulling on his boxers under the blanket, then pulled Elaine in his arms as he sat up, "You’re back in an ungodly hour, you’d better have brought coffee and breakfast." 

"No, no, hang on," Elaine said, holding up a hand to stop Harry from talking. "Hang on.  _Maeve?_ You turned down  _Maeve?_ You … you turned down  _Maeve?”_

"He turned down Maeve," Thomas confirmed, still looking amused. Her stammering was clearly entertaining, but Elaine didn’t care. "He’s good at that."

Harry nodded. "Three times, all three in front of her courtiers.

Elaine twisted in Harry’s arms to stare at him again. “Holy  _shit,_ Harry. I know she was crazy and all that, but I’m speaking from experience here when I say you actually might be insane.”

“I’m lucky I was under Mab’s aegis or I might as well have been a very very dead Wizard by now. And I’m still debating the insane part. Who knows?"

"Experience?" Thomas asked. "You telling me that you banged the Winter Lady?"

"Not the Winter Lady, no," Elaine said, and was rewarded by a raised eyebrow. " _Did_ you bring coffee and breakfast?”

"There are bagels in the kitchen," Thomas replied. "For the lady. Harry, you’re not a guest here, you can fend for yourself."

Harry turned to Thomas, "Bagels? What is this, they were out of donuts?" he said getting up and pulling on his jeans. "Now get out, let Elaine dress and I’ll go fetch some donuts too." He shoved Thomas out and followed sniffing the air, "Oh thank goodness, you made coffee."

"For the lady," Elaine heard Thomas repeat from outside the door whilst she once again donned her borrowed clothing. "Not you."

When she stepped out of the room, she found both brothers in the kitchen, still playfully bickering with one another. “I could go a bagel,” she said, and laughed as Thomas shot Harry a triumphant look.

"A woman with excellent taste," he said, gesturing to the countertop where the bag lay. "Except in some things." Elaine didn’t see, as she headed to the counter, but she was almost certain that he’d looked at Harry when he said those words.

"How does it work, then?" she asked, grabbing a bagel and some cream cheese that had been helpfully placed alongside the bag. "Harry said you were with your girlfriend, but if that’s what happened when you touched  _me …_ how do you manage?” She didn’t particularly care about the frankness of her questioning this man who was a near-stranger. It was five in the morning and he’d seen her naked. All bets were off.

"With some inventiveness," Thomas replied, with a broad smile on his face as she turned back to face them. "I can show you sometime, if you like."

Harry had stubbornly helped himself to Thomas’s coffee and was leaning against the counter, still contemplating on actually going out to get donuts.

"Yeah, no." he told Thomas vaguely, "Not happening Thomas."

He pointedly drained Thomas’s cup and tossed it in the trash before putting on his duster. “Gonna get some donuts, you bagel eating freaks.”

"Bring me back a doughnut," Elaine added. "No jelly, but white frosting and sprinkles would be nice." She couldn’t help but smirk to herself a little as she spoke. It wasn’t as though she’d dropped all contact with  _everyone_ in Summer straight away. God, she’d laughed at that one for weeks.

"Oh you." Harry said looking at her stunned for a moment then his whole face lit up.

"So you'll leave me alone with her?" Thomas called after him. "You thought that one through."

"Why wouldn’t i leave her with you?" he shrugged, "I trust her." He waved and went out.

When the door swung closed, Elaine turned to Thomas. “Do you two always get on so well?” she asked him, accepting the cup of coffee that he offered her.

"Yeah well, we had our ups and downs but he’s still my little brother, you know?" he said taking a big bite on a bagel, "He never thought you’d call back you know. He was grumpy for months. Buuuuuut he didn’t mention you were _that_ Elaine. Jerk.”

"I merit a  _that_ Elaine now?” Elaine asked, sipping at her coffee, unreasonably delighted. “He wasn’t really moping about, was he? I mean, I know I’m  _incredibly_ good looking, but I’m not—”

She stopped, and a warm, contented feeling settled in her chest. “Well, I suppose I  _am,_ " she amended. "I just didn’t know it until a couple of hours ago."

"No, I mean I figured you were the one on the phone and all I just didn’t realise you were the same one that he grew up with." Thomas grinned, "And yeah he was rather insufferable about it. He never _said_ anything but I still wiggled a bet out of him.” he looked at her triumphantly, “And now he owes me pizza!”

"Well, I hope your pizza gets treated a little better than ours did. And I think you have to share it with me, since I’m actually the reason you’re getting it in the first place," Elaine told him, grinning.

She finished off her bagel and, still hungry, reached for another . “So you’re the uncle Thomas of iPod destroyed fame, huh?

Thomas raised an eyebrow and reclined back in his chair, “Huh, he told you that about Maggie?”

She shook her head in answer to his question. “Well, no,” she said. “Not really. Maggie told me herself. Or … well, sort of. I was kind of there when he found out.”

She frowned, “He asked me to teach her,” she told him, “But I’m not sure how - or if - that’s going to work now.”

"You’ve met Maggie?" Thomas seemed genuinely surprised, "Empty Night, woman, and you didn’t suspect he might have feelings about you?" Thomas laughed heartily as he head the keys at the door. "I mean, he got you to meet his kid. That’s huge for Harry, he’s really not very trusting when it comes to her."

"Didn’t he tell you that he brought Maggie with him last time we met?" she asked, surprised. At his words, she looked away. "She’s a good kid," was all she was able to mumble in response to his laughter.

Harry got in the kitchen again and dropped a bag on the table. “With sprinkles upon it and a frosting of white.” he said grinning. “Elder Gruff didn’t let that go, did he?”

Fortunately, she was saved from formulating a better response as Harry re-entered. She picked up the bag and peeked inside, with a huge smile. “Nobody in  _Summer_ let that go, Harry,” she told him. “I mean,  _damn.”_

She glanced at Thomas, thought about his words some more, then leaned over and kissed Harry full on the mouth until Thomas cleared his throat. When she looked back, Thomas had a look of false irritation on his pretty face - but Elaine could see the smile there, too.

"She must really like doughnuts, Harry," Thomas said lightly. "What did you get for your favourite brother?"

"I got you one with raisins." he said tossing him a bag a little flushed from Elaine’s kiss. He turned to her, his hand falling to her waist. "So you liked the donut this much?" he asked echoing Thomas.

"I know you don’t mind the PDA Thomas but just so you know I am going to take a final look at that house today and I’m expecting an answer for the offer." he turned to Elaine, "Hey, come see it with me, I wouldn’t mind a second pair of eyes and we can meet Maggie after."

"Best donut I ever saw," Elaine replied, grinning. She listened as he spoke about the house and was smiling the whole time … until he asked her to come with him.

"I … what?" she said. Desperately, a little wildly, and completely irrationally, she looked at Thomas for help finding the words to respond. To her surprise and frustration, he looked almost as taken aback as she felt. "You want me to come look at the house that you and Maggie are going to live in?"

Was her voice really as high and squeaky as she thought it was?

Oh Crap. That had sounded completely different in his head. He hadn’t mean anything by it really, just wanted some company.

"Err, sure?" he ventured, "I mean, you can look for stuff that I might miss like mould or something." he finished lamely looking at Thomas for help.

"… soo … you want me … to look for mould for you?" Elaine replied, even more confused now … and a little disappointed.

"Oh for fuck’s sake," she heard Thomas say from behind her. "Elaine, go see the house with him and see if there’s enough space for your weekend clothes. Harry, stop stammering. Both of you, tell Maggie her favourite uncle is having you all to dinner tonight."

"That…works." Harry agreed kind of relieved at Thomas’s intervention. He pulled Elaine closer and kissed her hair. He just didn’t want to move too fast, make a wrong move and scare her off again.

"You keep saying that." he told Thomas, "Favourite brother, favourite uncle… She doesn’t have any more you twerp."

"Good thing, too, or they’d get jealous," Thomas replied, sticking out his tongue. Elaine gave him a silent look of thanks, and he smiled at her. She smiled in return. It might be good to have someone like Thomas on her side.

"I’m going to sleep more for a few hours. Enjoy your awkward flirting. Don’t have sex on the table," Thomas said, heading for the door.

"No promises," Elaine called after him, and she heard his laugh before the door swung closed again.

"I should totally have sex on your table." Harry called after Thomas, " _You_ defiled _my_ table!”

Elaine rubbed Harry’s arm gently as he held her, and said, “I  _am_ really good at getting rid of mould.”

"That’s good to know cause I once had a mould demon eat the upholstery of my car." he mused, "I should really start looking for a car as well. I can’t go on renting, the ones I can drive are slowly deemed unfit for use."

"What happened to the  _Beetle?”_ Elaine asked him, frowning, surprising herself with remembering the name of the old clown car. Not that she was one to talk; the  _Rust Bucket_ was hardly in a much better condition - although given how many times she’d driven it across the country, the old thing was doing pretty well.

Turning to Elaine, Harry's laughter had —not disappeared, but certainly been dulled.

"When Maggie was taken by the Reds there were several attempts to do me on before I could get to her." he said sitting down again reaching for his donuts, "The _Blue Beetle_ was one of the casualties.”

"They killed your car?" Elaine asked, feeling irrationally horrified. Taking his daughter, sure, that was standard bad guy behaviour 101. Turning Susan and all the other evil stuff, yeah, pretty standard. But killing the car … it just seemed so  _petty._ And cruel.

Aw hell’s bells. Finally someone got it. Finally. They had not simply trashed his car. They had _killed_ his car. It had hurt. The Beetle had been his buddy for over twenty years and they had taken that from him as well.

Despite her two bagels, Elaine found herself chewing on her doughnut whilst Harry ate his own. Eventually, she said, “If you want, I can help you find a car that is equally as dorky and ill-fitted for your height and position.” 

"I miss it." he said his lips pressed together in a thin line extending his hand over the table to catch a hold of hers. "I would get another VW but apparently Mab has a certain reputation to maintain and I can’t be allowed to bring any shame upon her by extension." he said mimicking Lea’s voice when she had said exactly that.

"So first mission out as the Knight and she loans me a freaking hearse with a purple flame-job. I’m not even joking. So I was thinking… Since I can afford it now, perhaps I could go for a car that would actually fit my legs."

"A hearse. Going to try _not_ to take that as any sort of omen,” Elaine replied, snorting. She squeezed his hand gently, giving him silent comfort. It might seem stupid to other people but … well, Elaine understood. There weren’t actually all that many consistent things in their lives, and that stupid clown car had been consistent when nothing else was. Like Elaine’s backpack, the one that she’d found that had survived the fire, the one that had finally fallen apart at the seams ten years later.

She’d cried for hours; a twenty-six year old woman sobbing over a backpack in the middle of New York City - actually, she hadn’t stood out all that much.

"Cars aren’t my speciality," Elaine admitted, "But the advantage of the ‘net is that I know a guy for almost everything. If you wanted, I could give you his number. The guy I’m thinking about lives just outside the city limits, so it wouldn’t be a huge journey."

"I’m not well versed with cars either. I was thinking of something with a rear engine but it won’t really do me any good if Maggie is in the backseat."

He finished his coffee and pressed a kiss on her lips. It was so nice just sitting here with her over coffee and baked goods talking for mundane things like that. It made his heart warmer.

"We can get Mags and go check after lunch." he said. "I’m meeting her after house-shopping anyway and she’ll be delighted to see you again."

"Alright," Elaine agreed, finishing her own coffee. She stared at the empty cup for a second, and then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already after six, not really much point in going back to sleep … especially not after coffee and breakfast.

She stood, intending to take another shower and sort out the clothing situation for the morning - she’d found women’s clothes in the apartment, but it had all been many sizes too small for her, but she’d noticed some more men’s in the spare bedroom.

She paused in the doorway, turning back. “Are we going to tell her today?” she asked.

"What? Maggie?" Harry frowned, "I’m pretty sure she’s convinced we were already seeing each other before— But sure we can tell her." he smiled at her. "I was just planning to take you to the movies you evil seductress, you." he laughed as he watched her retreating to the bedroom again. Shaking his head and pouring another coffee.

Hell’s Bells he could get used to that.

 


End file.
